The Bureau noted that the Secretariat had received a request for $60,000 for technical co-operation for Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. However, this request had been received after the deadline and had not been fully processed. The Bureau consequently decided to examine it at a later session.Session:3rd session of the Bureau (CONF 015)Year:1979Sites:Sagarmatha National ParkCountry:Nepal

Representatives of the International Centre for Conservation (ICCROM), of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) attended the meeting in an advisory capacity.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

Observers from three States Parties to the Convention which were not members of the Committee, namely Canada, Federal Republic of Germany and Honduras also attended the session, as well as observers from two other international organizations: the Organization for Museums, Monuments and Sites of Africa (OMMSA) and the International Union of Architects (IUA).Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979Country:CanadaGermanyHonduras

This Proposal was accepted by the Committee which proceeded to examine the Provisional Agenda prepared for the meeting. The Chairman proposed that:
i) an additional item be added to the agenda as item 5, namely"Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and action to be taken thereon";
ii) items 5 and 6 of the Provisional Agenda be examined as one item, and
iii) item 14 should be reworded as follows "Support services to the Secretariat and to the advisory international organizations".
With those modifications, the ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee had before it a recommendation from the Bureau that the Committee's Rules of Procedure be amended to provide for the replacement of the Rapporteur when the Rapporteur was unable to act at any session of the Committee or part thereof or was unable for any reason to complete his term of office (document CC-79/CONF.003/2). The procedure proposed for the replacement of the Rapporteur was identical to that foreseen in the Rules of Procedure for the replacement of the Chairman.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

After examining the Bureau's proposal, the Committee therefore decided to amend its Rules of Procedure by inserting immediately after Rule 14 an additional Rule providing for the replacement of the Rapporteur. Rules 15 to 37 would be re-numbered accordingly.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

In a reply to a member of the Committee, Dr. Shehata Adam, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee, stated that States members of the Bureau would be invited to designate as their representatives at meetings of the Bureau persons qualified in both the natural and the cultural heritage, so that a proper balance would be maintained.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee was honoured by the presence of H. Exc. Mrs. Jihan El-Sadat, First Lady of Egypt and of H. Exc. Dr. Mansour Hassan, Minister of Presidency, Information and Culture, who both addressed the meeting during the inaugural ceremony; the representative of the Director General, Mr. G. Bolla, and the Chairman of the Committee also addressed the meeting.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

In reporting to the Committee on activities undertaken during the previous year, the former Chairman, Mr. David Hales, focussed on significant successes noted by the Committee and he also referred to serious problems for the future. He drew attention to the increase in the number of ratifications or acceptances of the Convention which totalled 48, to the substantial increase in the number of fellowships provided under the World Heritage Fund as well as in the assistance provided for the protection of sites. Mr. Hales also laid stress on the vast increase in the number of nominations ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Rapporteur then proceeded to report on the last two sessions of the Bureau. The written report of the 2nd session, which took place in Paris from 28-30 May 1979, gave rise to no comments from the members of the Committee.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The report on the third session of the Bureau which took place in Cairo on 21 October 1979 was read before the Committee. Those points raised by the Bureau which called for decisions by the Committee and which were not the subject of an item on the Agenda were then taken up by theCommittee.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

Thus, with respect to paragraph 16 of the report on the different types of recommendation formulated by the Bureau to the Committee on nominations, the Committee decided to adopt for its third session the procedure proposed by the Bureau which is as follows: nominations would not be examined by the Committee: (a) when the deadlines for their submission had not been respected, (b) when their proper processing had not been possible and (c) when it was evident that the supporting documentation was incomplete and/or inadequate; on the other hand those nominations which raised problems of ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee agreed with the proposal or the Bureau that in the case of properties which fully met the criteria for inclusion in the World Heritage List and which had suffered damage from disasters, the normal deadlines for the submission and processing of dossiers may be waived by the Bureau.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee also shared the concern of the Bureau at the establishment in the United Kingdom of an organization bearing the name of "World Heritage Association" and of a Fund called "Heritage Trust". The Committee felt strongly that the use in names of the term "World Heritage" should be strictly limited to those activities directly related to the Convention and considered that the use of these terms in the titles of other organizations could only lead to confusion which would be regrettable. It therefore requested the Chairman to write to the above-mentioned Association, expressing the ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979Country:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

After examining the document before it, the Committee approved, as recommended by the Bureau, the revised draft text as prepared by the Secretariat. Furthermore, it decided to delegate authority to the Chairman to sign such agreements on its behalf. However, in exceptional cases or where necessary for practical reasons, the Committee authorized the Chairman to delegate authority for this purpose to a member of the Secretariat, to be designated by him.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The document on this item which proposed a procedure with respect to the deletion of properties from the World Heritage List was introduced by Mr. Bolla who drew attention to the different stages in the proposed procedure. A wide exchange of ideas ensued, during which several participants expressed the hope that the State Party on whose territory the property was located would inform the Secretariat of the Committee if any property inscribed on the List had seriously deteriorated and others drew attention to the obligation contracted by the States Parties under the Convention to properly ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

With respect to the source of information on the deterioration of a world heritage site, the Committee presumed that it would in most cases be the State Party on whose territory the property was located which would transmit such information to the Secretariat. However, information on the deterioration of a site may be made available by other sources and it would be for the Secretariat to check, as far as possible, on the source of the information and on the substance in consultation with the State Party concerned. The Committee requested the Secretariat in such cases to inform the ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

After some discussion, the Committee retained the proposal that decisions such as the sending out of fact-finding missions should be taken by the Committee, except in the case where emergency action was necessary, when the Bureau would be authorized to request the Secretariat to take such measures. It was understood that in all cases, the State Party concerned would be consulted. The question of organizing regular inspection missions was also raised, but the Committee felt that each action should not be taken, particularly in view of the States' obligations to adequately preserve ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The representative of ICOMOS proposed that ICOMOS should be consulted on the choice of experts to be sent on fact-finding missions in connection with the state of preservation of cultural properties. In reply, Mr. Bolla indicated that ICOMOS was regularly consulted on the roster of experts maintained by the Secretariat but that any obligation for the Secretariat to consult ICOMOS, in addition to the State Party which was always consulted on the choice of experts, would invariably lead to delays in the sending out of missions.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee adopted the procedure proposed by the Secretariat subject to amendments to stage A on the source of information on the deterioration of a property and subject to reference to cases where the necessary corrective measures for threatened natural sites have not been duly taken (see paragraph 40 below). It was decided to incorporate this procedure in the "Operational Guidelines". The full text of the procedure is to be found in Annex II to this report.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee took note of the report of the Secretariat on public information activities undertaken during the preceding year. This report called for decisions by the Committee on the publication of the World Heritage List and on the proposal received from the Swedish firm, Upsala Ekeby, to produce glass and silverware commemorating the World Heritage Convention.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

On the publication of the World Heritage List, the Committee decided:
(a) to retard the publication of the List in order to include the properties placed thereon at its third session;
(b) that the List of World Heritage in Danger and the List of properties for which international assistance has bean granted would be published as appendices of the List;
(c) that the list of properties for which international assistance has been granted would include reference to properties for which technical assistance has been granted but would make no mention of preparatory assistance;
(d) to ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The proposal from Upsala Ekeby to produce glass and silverware gave rise to considerable discussion, since it raised the principle of using tho World Heritage Emblem and depictions of World Heritage Sites for commercial purposes. There was some reticence among members of the Committee to authorize any commercial company to use the Emblem or pictures of the sites for such purposes. On the other hand the Committee underlined the need to create a world-wide interest in the Convention and recognized the importance of publicity. The Committee therefore decided:
(a) that the World Heritage ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

After examining the proposals of the Secretariat for promotional activities for 1980 (document CC-79/CONF.003/6.2) the Committee authorized the Secretariat to proceed with the following activities within a total budget of $36,900:
Estimated cost($)
(a) creation of a photo library of world heritage sites 9,600
(b) slide series and sound-track 7,000
(c) poster 7,500
(d) postcards 4,000
(e) journalists' seminars 2,800
(f) postage stamps 6'000// $36,900Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

In response to a question from a member of the Committee who sought to avoid the publication of information on cultural and natural world heritage sites in separate publications, Mr. Batisse indicated that the Secretariat was studying the possibility of enlarging the scope of the Cultural Heritage bulletin to cover not only cultural sites but also natural heritage sites.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The question was raised as to whether the Committee would authorize States Parties to the Convention to produce material bearing the Emblem such as postage stamps and postcards for publicity purposes and for raising financial contributions to the Fund. The Committee was of the opinion that States Parties were free to use the Emblem for such purposes, and could make additional voluntary contributions to the Fund by this means.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

In view of the difficulty of assessing nominations without an adequate inventory, the Committee decided to encourage States Parties to prepare such inventories. It was furthermore decided to ask IUCN to prepare a proposal for the next meeting of the Bureau relating to the methodology and cost of preparing an inventory on a global basis.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee decided to instruct IUCN to use great caution in the application of criterion (iv) when it was the sole criterion for recommending sites for the World Heritage List. The sites nominated under this criterion should be habitats where "significant populations" or "concentrations of populations" of rare or endangered species of plants or animals survive, that is, sites representing in some way "superlative situations".Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee noted that several areas nominated which meet the criteria may be marginal because of the inability of States, for various reasons to apply the rigid management criteria which they believe is necessary. The Committee was concerned that this could lead to further deterioration of these sites if corrective measures were not implemented. The Committee therefore decided to amend the "Operational Guidelines" by adding a sub-paragraph (vi) to paragraph 11 as follows:
"Where the intrinsic qualities of a World Heritage site are threatened by action or works of man and yet meet the ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee requested the Secretariat to prepare a revised text of the "Operational Guidelines" reflecting the above-mentioned decisions and to present this text to the Bureau at its next session. One question that should be studied in this connection would be the possibility of adding a criterion on integrity for the evaluation of cultural properties.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee considered that it would be desirable to be able to examine nominations at its fourth session within the framework of a national inventory of cultural and natural properties which the State Party considers suitable for inclusion in the World Heritage List. This would allow for a preliminary evaluation of the comparative value of properties within that State. The Committee therefore expressed the hope that each State Party concerned would make available to the Committee before its next session a list of those properties which it intends to nominate to the World Heritage List ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee considered that it was absolutely essential that the List contained only properties which were of outstanding universal value. Unless this general criterion was applied to every nomination, the List could rapidly decline in value and indeed in credibility. With this in mind, the Committee recommended that the wording in the "Operational Guidelines" and the nomination forms should more adequately reflect this overriding consideration, and that ICOMOS and IUCN should be instructed to regard this requirement as of critical importance in their evaluation of nominations.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

On the general question of the number of inscriptions to be entered on the World Heritage List, as well as of the selection criteria to be applied, the Committee recalled that the Convention foresees in Article 11 paragraph 1 that each State Party "shall in so far as possible submit to the World Heritage Committee _an inventory of property forming part of the cultural and natural heritage_, situated in its territory and _suitable for inclusion_" in the World Heritage List (passages not underlined in the text of the Convention). The Committee recommends that States Parties in future ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

In response to specific questions raised by Mr. Michel Parent's report, the Committee adopted the following principles:
(i) States Parties may propose in one single nomination several individual cultural properties, which may be in different geographical locations but which should:
-be linked because they belong to the same historico-cultural group, or-be the subject of a single safeguarding project, or-belong to the same type of property characteristic of the zone.
the geographical zone in which these properties are situated should be delimited and the cultural properties individually ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee took note of the typology proposed in Mr. Michel Parent's report. It considered that it was on the basis of the inventories submitted by States Parties that such a typology could be finalized. The question will therefore continue to be studied until its next session.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee considered the complex issues concerning sites occupied by migratory species on a seasonal basis and decided to add to paragraph 11 on integrity in the "Operational Guidelines" a new sub-paragraph (v) as follows:
"In cases of migratory species, integrity will require critical areas necessary for the survival of the species to be included in the nomination. States which are parties to the Convention are requested to seek the co-operation of other States which contain seasonable sites for populations of World Heritage species so as to ensure that these species are protected ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Australian Delegation drew attention to the fact that, on several occasions, members of the Committee and representatives of IUCN and ICOMOS had referred to the threat to which certain nominated sites were exposed, and had suggested that this factor should influence the favourable and rapid acceptance of the site in question. The Delegation expressed concern at this development, pointing out that acceptance should be based only on the established criteria dealing with the intrinsic properties of the site and, further, that if the threat affected the integrity of the site, acceptance ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee took up one by one those nominations which had been recommended by the Bureau for inscription on the List, those which had been recommended by the Bureau not to be entered on the List and nominations which raised a problem of application of the criteria, in accordance with the Committee's decision mentioned in paragraph 15 above. In each case the Committee heard, as appropriate, the comments of the representatives of IUCN and/or ICOMOS who referred to the criteria met by the property in question.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee decided furthermore to defer the following sites:
No. Name of property / State Party
8 Ichkeul National park / Tunisia
The Committee deferred this nomination until the Tunisian Government has contacted the other States concerned to ensure adequate protection of summering and wintering areas of major migratory species found in Ichkeul.
79 Paphos, Birthplace of Aphrodite / Cyprus
The Committee deferred this nomination until more precise information was available on the possible adverse impact on the sites of the pressing needs of tourism development.
92 Sta. Giulia/St. ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979Sites:Ichkeul National ParkPaphosCountry:CyprusItalyTunisia

In order to facilitate the examination by the Committee of nominations, it was decided that in future documents submitting nominations to the Committee would include indication of the criteria under which each nomination was to be considered.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

After examining the requests received from States Parties and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to grant technical co-operation as follows:
(a) Ecuador
Equipment to enable the authorities to ensure the integrity of tho natural environment of the Galapagos Islands through protective measures.
up to a maximum of $50,000Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979Sites:Galápagos IslandsCountry:Ecuador

After examining the requests received from States Parties and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to grant technical co-operation as follows:
(c) Egypt
Services of specialists in cultural heritage as well as equipment to draw up a project for the restoration and development of the Islamic Centre of Cairo.
up to a maximum of $ 30,000Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979Sites:Historic CairoCountry:Egypt

The Committee approved the revised nomination form (CC-79/CONF.003/7) subject to the following:
(a) the text should be revised to reflect the decisions taken by the Committee on the criteria for the inclusion of properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations (see session XI above); the attention of States Parties should be drawn, in particular, to the essential criterion of outstanding universal value that should be met by properties nominated;
(b) The form should emphasize the importance of adequate buffer zones and ask for details on measures ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee heard the report of the working group on the management of the Convention and its financial implications and took note of the following points:
i) The Convention was now entering its operational phase particularly as regards technical co-operation, emergency assistance and the training of specialists, which implied a considerable increase in the workload of the Secretariat. An amount of approximately $210,000 had been spent by the Unesco Secretariat in 1979 under its Regular Budget for the management of the Convention.
ii) Funds actually obligated in 1979 under the World ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee then decided:
a) that it was not opportune at the present time to retain a fixed percentage such as 14%, as indicated in paragraph 26 of document CC-79/CONF.003/12, to cover direct management costs of the Convention;
b) to ask the Director-General of Unesco to make additional efforts to provide the Secretariat with an adequate permanent staff to enable it to meet the substantial increase in workload due to the fact that the Convention has now entered its operational phase. Until the Secretariat could be fully constituted and a sufficient number of Member States ratified ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee took note of the statement of account of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period which ended on 31 December 1978 and the interim statement of account of the Fund for the two-year financial period 1979/80 as set out in document CC-79/CONF.003/9.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The working group on natural criteria also reported to the Committee on its concern at the relatively low number of natural properties so far included in the World Heritage List. It considered that, if the List gave an initial impression of being a list of cultural properties, it would deter further nominations of natural properties. The working group was also concerned that the delegations of States Members at the third session of the Committee did not include a sufficient number of specialists in the natural heritage field which reduced the Committee's ability to evaluate properly ...Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee shared the concern of the group. It considered, however, that in view of the difficulty of determining precisely whether persons were competent in the fields of nature conservation or of the protection of cultural property, it would not be feasible to introduce such a rule on the quorum for meetings of the Committee. The responsibility for ensuring balanced representation lay with each State Member of the Committee.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

The Committee requested the Secretariat to renew its efforts to ensure that the authorities in each State Party responsible for the natural heritage were fully informed of the activities undertaken under the Convention and of the meetings of the Committee. IUCN could also be of assistance through its direct contacts. It was decided that copies of letters of invitation would be sent to those authorities responsible for the national heritage in the States Parties. The Committee decided furthermore to take up the matter again if the situation did not improve.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979

Following an expression of thanks from the floor to the Egyptian authorities for the remarkable hospitality offered to the Committee, to the Chairman for the admirable way in which he had conducted the meeting and to all those who had contributed to the smooth running of the meeting,
the Chairman declared the session closed.Session:3rd session of the World Heritage Committee (CONF 003)Year:1979